SCA 150 Mixed but mostly Sticks build

[BirdGuy21]

Exciting! Anything in particular that made you go with the Fiji Cube sump?

 

[josvanmeer]

Exciting! Anything in particular that made you go with the Fiji Cube sump?

Yes, it is a non Triton style sump, I dont do Triton method and never will. It was on sale. It has the ability to switch between socks or sponge/filter pad

 

[BirdGuy21]

I like the interchangeability between socks and pad. I currently run floss in my tank and am inclined to do something similar in an upgrade.

 

[josvanmeer]

Started the quarantine tank, 10gal with Seachem Tidal 35 filter.
Might get a tiny powerhead for increased water movement.


I went to the LFS and asked him to get me one of the Halichoeres genus wrasse, either a Christmas/Yellow/Marble or Dusky Wrasse and a flasher wrasse, Carpenter or McCosker Wrasse.

He said they would probably be there Friday, so I can start the quarantine process on two wrasse.

I also placed an order at TSM Aquatics, for a Marginalis Butterfly (rare and expensive, but more hardy than the copperband and they look very similar) and an algae blenny and I can expect to have those arrive when they finish quarantine at TSM aquatics around 1/11 in the new year.

My goal is to have the tank up and running by the end of the year.

 

[josvanmeer]

Moved my old tank to another wall, by dragging it like the madman I am. Moved the new stand into place and leveled it. My house isnt square to previous settling and foundation repairs, so some areas were pretty extreme. It all worked out in the end. When its all set in place I might want to trim the base in place to make it seem like it aint floating.

Installing the reefbreeders photon later today onto the ceiling.

 

[BirdGuy21]

Moved my old tank to another wall, by dragging it like the madman I am. Moved the new stand into place and leveled it. My house isnt square to previous settling and foundation repairs, so some areas were pretty extreme. It all worked out in the end. When its all set in place I might want to trim the base in place to make it seem like it aint floating.

Installing the reefbreeders photon later today onto the ceiling.

I will be about to do the same thing here soon so I don’t envy the task of moving tanks haha. Are you using shims to level? I will need to shim mine and am thinking of going with composite shims.

 

[josvanmeer]

I will be about to do the same thing here soon so I don’t envy the task of moving tanks haha. Are you using shims to level? I will need to shim mine and am thinking of going with composite shims.

I didnt have to just use shims, also full on wooden blocks lol. The slope on that part is insane and I had to level for a whole hour just to get it within tolerances.

Its still not perfectly square, but its close enough. And yes I did use a bunch of composite shims. They are nice and solid and they have ridges in them to make m snap easier.

 

[BirdGuy21]

I didnt have to just use shims, also full on wooden blocks lol. The slope on that part is insane and I had to level for a whole hour just to get it within tolerances.

Its still not perfectly square, but its close enough. And yes I did use a bunch of composite shims. They are nice and solid and they have ridges in them to make m snap easier.

That makes me feel better about my basement then, haha! I’ll be using the shims for sure. Whoever laid the tile in my basement didn’t even try to level out the concrete floor underneath. On a positive note though- if anything ever spills it will slope under the wall into the laundry room floor drain haha.

 

[josvanmeer]

Put leveling mat on the stand, I bought it since I was gonna go barebottom originally, but obviously didnt make any sense if I wanted to keep lots of wrasse so its just there to pad the tank. Hung up the Reefbreeders V2+ 50 as well, super easy. I also went ahead and programmed it, took me 25mins being unfamiliar with the process, was not bad to be honest.

Works great!

All done for this weekend. Just waiting on the tank now, and call a friend up to hoist this thing into place when it gets here.

 

[BirdGuy21]

Your stand looks great. Fits in with the other cabinets perfectly.

 

[josvanmeer]

One more picture before I am working all week and I cant post any updates.

Had to test fit the skimmer, it fits.
I think I will run the sump with filter floss initially and then filter socks later when the livestock becomes more crowded.
For plumbing I am not doing anything complicated, in my opinion hard plumbing everything is just overcomplicating things, and nothing is wrong with flexible tubing. I will probably hard plumb the drains to a ball/gate valve, hard plumb to 45 degrees towards the drain intake and then switch to a barbed fitting and continue with flex to the sump.

The return line will probably just be flex hose>barbed>pvc>locline>and the locline will have siphon holes above water level to prevent back siphon so no need for a check valve.

 

[josvanmeer]

The tank got delivered today!

Sitting on three pallets and boxed up, strapped in super tight I would be surprised if anyone ordered any of these tanks arriving cracked. This thing was not ever going anywhere.

I will be getting some movers to lift it into place for me, since I dont have insurance for dropping an expensive glass bucket.

Sorry for the picture collage.

The silicone work was done very well, sharp lines everywhere and it certainly is exactly and more what I would have hoped for in this tank! The overflow is actually glass, the acrylic is siliconed around it with a little gap in between for the bottom intake. I opted for the acrylic cover, and it came with the box in a seperate cardboard envelope. I didnt want any fish go missing so I thought the cover was a good idea. As you can see, it comes with two bulkheads for the drains and a return line assembly and locline for the return nozzles on both sides of the overflow.

Also a herbie style kit is supplied, and two barbed 90 degree fittings for the drains were also supplied.

 

[josvanmeer]

Lifted on the stand
Modified the quarantine lid with screen so no jumpers would escape.
Plumbing coming soon.

 

[benapilot]

Wow!! Very nice.
I am so amazed that just a few pieces of styrofoam, cardboard and some straps keep these tanks intact! Kudos to the people who pack, and those who ship. I think these are made in China, then shipped in a container to Long Beach, then by truck (50 miles through L.A. freeways) to SCA HQ in Ontario. Then it's loaded onto another truck to go to the customer... for me it was by truck to Tacoma, WA, then by ocean barge to Anchorage, then by truck to my garage!

I'm looking forward to the day I can bring my new baby into the house (I'm doing all the dry plumbing and setup in the garage before bringing it in to replace my 75).

 

[josvanmeer]

Overall its been a smooth experience but I didnt like that they claim on the website to have stock of these tanks, thats very misleading. For the price its well worth the wait; so I am not complaining. It looks amazing, maybe not as sharp as custom build but that also costs three time as much.

I will have this tank running before 2021

Not sure how fast I wil add my livestock. I have a fully cycled tank so I am sure the whole thing would transfer just fine.

 

[BirdGuy21]

Tank looks great on the stand. How long did it take from order to delivery?

 

[josvanmeer]

Tank looks great on the stand. How long did it take from order to delivery?

6 weeks

 

[BirdGuy21]

At least it gave you time to finish the stand, haha.

 

[josvanmeer]

Couple of updates.
I plumbed it, went with all hard pvc plumbing since I noticed there was barely any length needed. The drains have ball valves on them with unions. The return lines are located slightly above water level so there will be no backflow so I did not install a check valve.

Took me an hour or two to measure/glue and attach it all.

Im filling the tank as we speak, I had a bunch of rodi already made, probably around 120gals so I will need to make some more over the next day to fill the whole system up. Tank looking nice and level, so is waterlevel. Silicone looking sharp still, dont notice any bubbles etc yet. So far so good.

 

[BirdGuy21]

Where did you get your plumbing supplies? I’ve been looking at BRS trying to do some preplanning. Tank is looking good.